232 – The Middle

It’s L/Wren Mrs Constance Clarke’s birthday – and Flip is determined to make it an anniversary to remember.

The futuristic colony of Formicia, where the pampered populace pass their days in endless leisure, seems the perfect place for a ‘Wren Party’. But all is not as it seems. Looking down from the Middle, the skyscraping tower that ascends as far as the colony ceiling, Formicia’s overseers can see that the Doctor doesn’t fit in – and it’s not just his coat that makes him conspicuous…

“The End is the Beginning,” say the propaganda-like posters all over Formicia. Because to be part of this perfect society comes at a price. And the Doctor’s already in arrears.

1 Comment

Styre
on December 6, 2017 at 7:20 PM

THE MIDDLE

The second release in this year’s Colin Baker trilogy is “The Middle,” from Chris Chapman. It’s a great riff on Logan’s Run that addresses its central concept with honesty, provides incisive social commentary and only falls down slightly at the end. In other words, it’s the best Colin Baker story in a long time.

The Doctor, Constance, and Flip land in the underground colony of Formicia, looking to take some time off and celebrate Constance’s birthday. At first, it appears the population spends its time in leisure and luxury, with no responsibilities – until the crew notices that nobody in Formicia seems to have reached middle age. This is where we learn how this society is structured: from birth to age 35, you have no responsibilities. At age 35, you are taken away to the Middle, a giant tower at the heart of the colony where the important work of management is done. And lastly, when you reach age 70, you are sent into the military, where you fight in giant mechanical suits until you are either killed or die of old age. Chapman structures these revelations brilliantly: the entire first episode seems to be presenting the Logan’s Run scenario where people are executed on their 70th birthday. It’s only after the Doctor – who confuses the age-detecting machines, naturally – is put through the process that we discover the truth. And by centering the story around Constance’s 35th birthday, Chapman has an effective way to keep the crew apart, with each member in a different stage of the society.

As the story progresses, we learn more and more about Formicia. The military is there to keep the colony safe from outside invaders who seek to slaughter the population. It is stocked with elderly people through pragmatism: instead of sacrificing the young to the horrors of war, why not the old, who have already lived full lives and contributed to society? It also allows the Doctor to fight the system from within, though unfortunately this sounds almost identical to the eighth Doctor going through boot camp in the recent Time War box set. That’s not Chapman’s fault, of course, but it does feel like retreading old ground. But all of that pales before the revelations in the final episode, which frame the story in an entirely new light. I think this is the only significant flaw in “The Middle,” in that the revelation about Formicia is almost too huge to take entirely seriously – but I’m not one to fault a story for ambition. There are also plot-related nitpicks, if you’re interested in that sort of thing – but I’m not.

Chapman also does very well with the characterization. Colin Baker has seemed progressively neutered over the past few years, but this story allows him to summon up his moral indignation and rage against the horrors of an unjust society. Constance’s military background enables her to take to the Middle like a fish to water, and of course Flip fits in just fine in the lap of luxury. Chapman also writes a little friction between Constance and Flip, though it’s more like an older sibling rolling her eyes at her little sister than anything else. It’s a bit of a dangerous line to walk, since you don’t want to make Flip irritate the audience at the same time she irritates Constance, but Chapman basically pulls it off.

Jamie Anderson directs a relatively fast-paced story, while the sound design from Joe Meiners and the score from Jamie Robertson ably support the effort. Overall, “The Middle” is a very successful story. It presents a fascinating society and keeps the revelations coming at a pace that holds the listener in rapt attention. It nails the regular characters and shows a sympathetic guest cast at the same time. It’s well-produced, well-made, and well-acted. I wish that a story like this could be the norm in the monthly range instead of an outlier, because this was genuinely good.